The Austin Modern Home Tour celebrates 11 years of collaborative exchange between architects, developers, designers, and real estate professionals, and invites every Austinite to join the Modern Movement!

Free Plan Review and Consultation

Financial Prequalification

Cost Estimate

Design Consultation

Dream fulfillment

Everyone has a dream home. For couples, it is a shared dream. Often life has stood in the way of dream fulfillment. But now you are ready to pursue and build your Dream Home. Think how much more rewarding it will be, how many more memories, how more meaningful the experience will be if you are actually your own builder. You are not on the sidelines; you are in the game. You are the coaches, quarterbacks and captains of the team. And of course your team is TRUE Custom Green Built Homes. You can and will win this game.

My home my way

If there is a Frank Sinatra streak in you, you may have a pet peeve. One of our clients wanted his attic laid out so there are no electrical or water lines running across the center of the attic. But he didn’t want to be there every day to make sure his wishes are being followed. So we gave him an insider’s secret that takes care of the problem. It was an action he would have done anyway; he just did it earlier in the build process. Ok, here it is. Have the attic flooring laid before the running of electric and water lines, so the lines must be outside the flooring area. Simple, but effective and no hassles with the subs.

Getting to choose good, better or best for each item

When and where is good, good enough? When would you choose just a little better? And, except for bragging rights, do you really want to pay for the best if it is more than you need or the incremental value is very small, while the incremental cost is much higher. Here is an excellent area that good/ better/ best knowledge pays off. Windows. Here is an insider’s secret. When you go to home shows, you will see replacement windows. They are much higher cost than windows used in new construction. Almost all new construction window companies have at least 3 price points on windows. And these windows have the same bells and whistles as replacement windows, except the higher prices. So which one do you choose? We will show you and take you to one or more vendors to see and hear about these windows up close and personal. You will get excellent windows at excellent builder prices.

Long term energy savings

Solar is great, geothermal is great, rain water tanks are great, but are they good return on investment (ROI) at this time? What is the payback period? While we have our recommendations, whatever you want is what you will get. We just want you to know (there’s that knowledge “thing” again) what the pro and cons are. We can offer you guaranteed monthly energy savings through the Energy Wise program.

Home Tour

CLASS #15

Home Tour

Visit a new home under construction

Learn from owner/builders like yourself

Discover how they succeeded

See the application of what you have learned in class

Get answers to your questions

Vendor Demonstration

CLASS #14

Vendor Demonstration

Visit a vendors showroom

Learn from the suppliers of materials for your home

Discover the newest industry trends

Learn options for your new home

Get your hands on the products

Ask all the questions you want

Peace of mind that I am getting what is best for me

Ever have a home built before? Were you anxious because you just didn’t know what you didn’t know? Now you will know. Now you will be able to move forward with confidence, not anxiety.

Pride in participation

Before it was just pride of ownership. Now you will have pride in everything about the home. It’s not “I bought it” – “It’s I did it all”. WOW!

No change order fees

You want an additional electrical outlet. Have the General Contractor (that’s you) talk to your sub. There may be materials and time charges, but no change order fees (unless you want to charge yourself).

Increase selection for my design features

Your selection showroom is the WWW (Whole Wide World). One client told us his selection was out of this world. We thought he was just bragging until he mentioned a meteorite he had.

Avoid over paying

In most areas, you will receive three or more bids/estimates. All subcontractors/product providers/vendors will be quoting on the same specifications. This in and of itself could be worth thousands of dollars in savings in each biddable area. If you were using a fixed price Custom Builder, they would pocket any saving rather than pass it on to you. One of our clients was quoted by a custom builder $12 per square foot for a driveway, when the builder’s cost was about $3 per square foot.

Instant home equity

You build for less, but the market value should be higher than you pay. Many are in an 80% loan 20% equity (or better) position from the get go. That means no Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) – another huge savings. Also, your records of what you actually paid for what you built for can be used to fight any higher tax evaluation.

More confidence in my home

You no longer have to worry about what is behind the walls, did anybody cut any corners to make more money off of you, were inferior products used, what were the bid specifications and are they what you wanted. You knowingly select the good/better/best quality you want to hold up over time by choosing the good/better/best product for the good/better/best price. Plus, you have all the confidence that comes from the right insider’s knowledge. Knowledge is money power.

Control the process and outcome

You are the decision maker. We will give you all the information you need to make your decision for everything. You need information you don’t have? We get that to you.

Save Money

To you, costs are an open book. You only pay cost. No markup, no hidden fees, no upgrade charges. We get no rebates or promotional fee from any sub/vendor or supplier. You pay just what it costs you as the builder.

How Do I Determine ROI?

Initial extra cost ÷ savings per month/year = x. X should be less than or equal to the number of years the item is expected to last. Example: A heat pump water heater costs $600.00 more to buy. It can save you $20.00 a month and the heat pump water heater is expected to last 13 years. The math is $600.00 ÷ $20.00 = 30 months you will earn the extra money back and you still have (120 months x $20.00 a month = $2400 dollars saving for investing the extra $600.00 for the heat pump water heater. In addition, if it is installed inside the building envelope, you can take advantage of dehumidification and one half ton of free air conditioning. In this case it seems like a no brainer. And that is TRUE!

How Do I Choose The Best Bid For My Project?

Good/better/best .Choices, choices, choices. Because our subcontractors are all bidding to the same specification, about 99% of the time our clients take the lowest bid. This system means great savings for you and we have happy customers because the bid was stated correctly (knowledge counts here) and has included what you want and need.